If you have spent any time in Tokyo, this might sound surprising. Yes, bike lanes are popping up around the city, but they are usually poorly separated from pavements or traffic, often lead nowhere and usually blocked by at least one or more pedestrians or parked vehicles.

Bicycle parking also has its own challenges.

The assessment seems to be based on sheer numbers, and the numbers are pretty big.

“20% of the more than 20 million commuters ride their bikes to the nearest train or subway station. This is equal to the total population of Berlin.

A modal-split of 30% or more is not uncommon in some suburbs. Bicycles are everywhere.”

Japan’s long-established and very wonderful delivery services are struggling.

As in the US and Europe, the delivery market in Japan continues to grow, most of the growth fuelled by e-commerce. Combined with an aging workforce, decades of zero inflation and the high expectations of Japanese private and corporate customers, this has stretched delivery services past their breaking point.

Market leader Yamato Takyuubin has eliminated daytime deliveries and raised prices for the first time in 19 years, 2nd place Sagawa Kyuubin has rejected Amazon deliveries outright and the Post Office (3rd place), which took up most of the slack from Yamato’s reduced deliveries, has hit the same brick wall of lack of staff and overloaded distribution centres that forced Yamato and Sagawa to make those decisions in the first place.

Forget your Model Ts, your Beetles and your Corollas, the Super Cub will probably never be challenged as the most produced automobile in history, passing 100 million units last year and still in production virtually unchanged after 60 years.